


A Happy Day

by yarnandtea



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2013-09-11
Packaged: 2017-12-26 07:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/963255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnandtea/pseuds/yarnandtea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mako's not sure what to do with herself for her first birthday since Stacker's been gone. Leave it to Raleigh to have some ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Happy Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LinaLeah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaLeah/gifts).



> Birthday fic written for linaleah on tumblr. 
> 
> Just a sweet little bit of fluff featuring Mako and Raleigh. Could be seen as pre-relationship or just friendship. 
> 
> I hope I got their voices right. I have only seen the movie once and haven't had a chance to check out the book or the comic yet.

She should have expected him to know about her birthday, and to know not to make a big deal about it. The drift didn't tell you everything there was to know about a person, but you did get a _sense_ of your partner, of how they saw the world, would react to various things. Like birthdays. Like facing the first birthday without the man who had raised her.

Stacker's gift had been the same every year: the day. He'd take the whole day and spend it with her, just the two of them, going wherever she asked to go. She liked the park, and the planetarium. But they had also gone to the beach once, and the various science museums more than once. Lunch would be grabbed out and about, but dinner would be the day's crowning glory. Back at home, Stacker would prepare an elaborate feast for the two of them. A mix of her favorites and of his, the leftovers would last for days. They'd clean up together after eating, and while she dried the dishes, he'd ask what she wanted this year for her present. She always smiled and shook her head, telling him she didn't need anything, the day had been enough. He'd give her that level look of his, but in the end he let it be.

This year, Mako woke up feeling a bit at a loss. She supposed she could take the day, maybe go to the museum, to remember Stacker, and honor him. But she suspected he wouldn't approve. _Today's about YOU, Mako_ , she could almost hear him saying in her mind. So, what did she want? She'd reached her dream of becoming a Jaeger pilot, revenge for her family had been had. No one could give her Stacker back. What did that leave? A tiny smile crept across her face. Well, there _was_ one thing, but--

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Mako, you up yet?"

The smile widened and she went to the door, leaning down to peer through the view hole. Raleigh's distorted image was looking in through the other side. He always did that, even though she knew he was well aware the view holes didn't work both ways. She stepped back and swung open the door. Raleigh scuttled inside and waited for her to close the door behind him before brandishing the tray he carried. It held what looked to be breakfast for both of them, but her eyes went to the plate in the center of the tray. It held a muffin. With a lit candle sticking up in the middle of it. Mako bit back a laugh.

"Happy birthday!" Raleigh grinned at her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, reaching out to pick up the muffin.

"You gotta make a wish before you blow it out!" Raleigh gestured to the candle and then set the tray down on her desk. She noticed he still held something else, but when Raleigh noticed her looking more closely, he gave a quick shake of his head and pointed at the candle again. "Wish first."

She laughed and rolled her eyes at him, but still she held the muffin up in front of her face. After a moment's thought, she closed her eyes tightly and made her wish. _Let it be a happy day. That's all I really want today._ She blew out the candle and laughed again when Raleigh cheered.

He pulled out the chair at her desk and she sat, setting to work peeling the muffin from its wrapper as she did so. Raleigh plopped down on the nearby footlocker and snagged a second muffin from the tray. They ate in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each other's company. It wasn't like they really needed to speak, by now, to get across the basics. Once most of the food was gone, Raleigh finally brought out the rest of the items he had been carrying when he arrived.

"So, first off, there's this." He handed her a heavy gift bag, grinning proudly.

"Raleigh, you didn't have to--"

"Wanted to," he interrupted. "Besides, you kept thinking about it the last time we were in the drift, and it made me curious. I recognized the sign for the antique shop in the memory you were focusing on. I'm just glad they still had it."

She pulled the brightly colored paper out of the top of the bag, revealing a plain brown box. Realizing what must be inside, she lifted the box out gently, her heart beating quickly as she opened the lid. A small pewter teapot rested inside, a sinewy dragon worked around it's round belly.

"Oh," she breathed softly. Blinking back tears, she looked up at him and smiled shakily. "Thank you. I saw this in the window the last time I was in the city. My mother had one just like it."

She reached down to stroke the head of the dragon. As well as the drift enabled them to know each other, she was always amazed that Raleigh never seemed to stop surprising her. She lifted the teapot out of the box, along with the stand it rested on, and set it on her desk carefully.

"Thank you," she said again. Noting Raleigh's eagerness had not abated, she gestured to the other items in his hand. They were cases of some sort, and a closer look showed them to be movies. Old ones, apparently, if they were still in cases like that. "What are those?"

"Well, I couldn't get clearance for us to leave the base until dinnertime, so I asked Tendo to help me rig up the small conference room like a theater. I thought we could have a marathon of our favorite movies, if you wanna?"

"Oh!" That sounded like a lot of fun, actually. A good way to escape without actually leaving the Shatterdome. She nodded her agreement with the plan, wondering where she had put the drive with her small collection of movies. "Are those yours then?" She pointed to the cases he held.

 "Yeah! I know it's silly to hold on to old tech, but I've had these since I was a kid. What do you feel like starting with, something silly, or something a little more serious?"

"Silly," I think, she said with a smile. "It seems like a good day for it."

"Cool!" He tossed her a case and she turned it over in her hands, examining it. _Galaxy Quest?_ She looked at the date on the case and couldn't help but laugh. _It's almost as old as he is._

"It's fun, I promise," he said.

"It must be, for you to have kept it for so long."

Raleigh nodded and started picking up the remains of breakfast.

"I'll take this back to the mess and go get the movie set up. See you in the conference room when you're ready?"

"Deal," she told him.

She stared at the door for a few moments after he had gone. A movie marathon was certainly not something she'd have chosen for herself, but it _did_ sound like a lot of fun. Plus, a whole day spent with Raleigh with no responsibilities to worry about? What more could she ask for?

It seemed like she might get her wish after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I chose Galaxy Quest as Raleigh's favorite movie because linaleah mentioned it was one of hers. It came out the year after Raleigh was born, so I can just imagine him and Yancy as kids finding it in their parents' collection of DVDs and absolutely loving it.


End file.
